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makeste · 3 years

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BnHA Chapter 304: The Council of OFA

Previously on BnHA: Hawks and Best Jeanist were all, “what up Todofam, we are here to apply for the positions of ‘son #4’ and ‘weird uncle’, respectively,” and then proceeded to insert themselves into the family drama without waiting for an answer. Hawks briefed Endeavor on the nation’s current status of “totally fucked”, promised to help him sort that out, and then asked him about OFA. Endeavor was all, “oh do you mean One For All, the mysterious thing that my intern Deku was apparently being targeted for?” and then we cut away, presumably before Endeavor could clarify that it never occurred to him to follow up on that, and Hawks was all “no of course not, why would it occur to anyone other than me to follow up on any of this super weird and ominously important shit.” Anyway so meanwhile Bakugou was all “LET ME SCREAM AT DEKU UNTIL HE WAKES UP” and the other kids were all “NO”, and then the chapter ended with All Might being all “I wonder what the vestige!me is currently chatting with Deku about.”

Today on BnHA: Deku drops in on the Vestiges, who are all “sup Deku, how do you like our fancy chairs.” OFA II and III are all “if you need us we’ll just be standing here silently in the corner pretending to be invisible and sparking endless discourse with our mere existence.” OFA IV is all “and now I will explain to you in a very convoluted way that you being quirkless was actually a good thing, since it means that you are probably not going to suddenly drop dead at the age of twenty. But also you’re probably going to be the last user of OFA for that very same reason.” Deku is all “that is wild. I’m just gonna stand here and stare at my hand.” Nana is all “so now that that’s settled could you please do me a small favor and kill my grandson for me”, because having just one topic to discourse about this week WASN’T ENOUGH, apparently. Thanks so much Horikoshi.

(ETA: okay so just a note before I start, this week’s RHA translation was a huge mess, so I followed up this chapter by reading a couple of other translations. the main one I’m using for reference is the one by @hanashimas, whose weekly posts I highly recommend. anyway so you’ll see a couple of ETAs in this post in places where the initial translation was off.)

how many layers of bandages did they wrap this poor kid’s fucking hand in omg

jesus Deku. are you holding onto a bouquet of flowers under that thing?? or a tennis racket??

omg yes, finally

is he reading these names off a teleprompter lol. and if so, what has Jeanist ever done to slight you, Deku? “god bless Kacchan and Aizawa-sensei and Todoroki-kun and everyone else in the whole wide world... except for Best Jeanist. fuck that guy.” actually this joke would be funnier if half of tumblr didn’t legit feel that way lol but anyway

OH MY GOD

I NEED TO HAVE A TALK TOO. ABOUT, OH, EVERYTHING

I got immediate KHR vibes from ALL OF THIS. this is seriously such a Vongola aesthetic. “let’s use the luxuriously cushioned chairs with the seat backs that are ten feet high, and arrange all of the handsome ghost people in a big circle” like come on

that said there are also some slight LoTR vibes as well. “bring forth the ring, Deku”

I like how Six is sitting there with his feet drawn up all casual, but with his arms inexplicably sticking STRAIGHT OUT IN FRONT OF HIM and dangling over his knees like he’s doing some sort of zombie walk

apparently the Fourth wasn’t a big fan of shoes huh

interesting that All Might is the only one who’s still faint/indistinct, and and that Two and Three are fully visible

(ETA: the rest of my speculation about Two and Three has been moved into a separate post, the better to focus on the shit that’s actually happening in this chapter lol.)

and lastly, interesting that all of them are talking now, except for All Might (and I guess the Second and Third as well). to the best of my knowledge Deku hasn’t unlocked the Sixth’s quirk yet, so I guess the quirks don’t really have anything to do with it

oh and it looks like Deku’s mouth is still covered. I guess that’s convenient for the vestiges since we all know it’s hard to stop Deku once he gets going. but on the other hand it’s very inconvenient for people like me who wanted to see some interaction. alas

so First says that OFA’s power has grown a lot in the last four months (i.e. since Deku unlocked Blackwhip), and now the vestiges can communicate with each other as well as Deku

so even when Deku’s not around they can all just chill with each other. this is such a weird thing to me lol. like it’s cool, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also strange as hell to know that you’ve got eight other people hanging out in your head spying on everything you do and having conversations with each other about it. it would be like if Dark Shadow had someone to hang out with other than Tokoyami. good thing you weren’t triplets, Tokoyami

First says that it’s become easier for the vestiges to interact with Deku ever since TomurAFO barged into the OFA Domain back at Jakku. huh

(ETA: apparently this is because AFO forcibly pulled out OFA’s power when he was trying to steal the quirk, so I guess that makes sense.)

okay thank you Banjou for addressing this concern which I initially brought up as a joke, but which was apparently real enough for you to reassure Deku about

“don’t worry, even though we’re awake and hanging out inside of you at all times, we’re definitely not secretly watching and making fun of every single thing you do” hmmmmm

(ETA: “not that you could do anything about it even if we were, since you’re probably going to be the last OFA holder ever!” I don’t trust anything this asshole says lmao.)

OH SHIT??

YESSS DEKU now you can hold them accountable for all of their bullshit! because I do not doubt that there will be bullshit lol but let’s see how that goes

oh damn

well okay then. you didn’t have to stand up and walk over to him and loom all threateningly like that but okay sir

this guy has kind of a Kimimaro vibe to him. remember? that bone-growing guy from Naruto? except I’m pretty sure he had eyebrows. and wasn’t twenty feet tall. speaking of which, that explains the chairs

why are you wearing only 3/5ths of a shirt

lol what

someone’s gonna have to explain this to me. is he just redundant or something lol, or is he strangely poetical or what

(ETA: apparently HE’S MAKING A PUN omg. I immediately gained +10 love for him lol. also it flows a lot better in Japanese. this is one of the things Caleb is usually good at, so we’ll see what he does with the wordplay.)

omg the hermit theory is true!!

“I’M NOT WEIRD, IT’S SOCIETY WHICH IS WEIRD.” lol whatever you say buddy. also love how Banjou tried to give him a big hearty slap on the back but Hermit Boy was not having it lmao

IS HE TRYING TO CAPTURE HIM WITH BLACKWHIP

AND ACTUALLY, NO, SIR, AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE ARE NOT AWARE. SO SPILL!!

?!!?

okay my first response was LOL ARE YOU SERIOUS, THAT’S THE BIG SECRET!? -- and then it hit me what the significance of “died from old age... AT AGE FORTY” meant. at which point it was like “!!!!!” and then “OH, SHIT”

(ETA: there’s also an Iida joke here somewhere but I’m just too tired to make it.)

oh my god oh my god

did he somehow get a copy of the coroner’s report or something? like how does he even know that he died from “old age” as opposed to any number of other natural causes? ??

but anyway. so this is the quirk singularity coming into play then I guess. but then how come All Might is still alive and ticking?

(ETA: so this is one example of where this week’s translation is a mess lol. apparently the Fourth explains here that he didn’t know what the fuck he died from until All Might researched it. and it turns out there actually was an autopsy lol so there you go.)

so Fourth says he held OFA for eighteen years, and since he knew he would never be strong enough to defeat AFO on his own he basically just spent all his time punching rocks in the woods and training to power the quirk up

oh shit

is he implying that his body literally fell apart?? like that’s how he got the scars on his face? -- IS THAT WHAT KEEPS HAPPENING TO TOMURA, THEN. oh shit

DUDE

so you’re telling me that this quirk actively shortens the lifespan of anyone who uses it?? and my little boy here has had it now for a year already?? fuck me, I have immediately have a TON of thoughts about all this but let me save it until he’s done with his explanation

THANK YOU, DEKU

right?? how come All Might didn’t die then. even after he got injured. please don’t tell me he actually is dying still and is just being slow about it because I SWEAR TO GOD

what does this mean??

so what you’re trying to say is you all have NO FUCKING IDEA how long Deku’s gonna be able to hold this quirk before he SUDDENLY DROPS DEAD?! five generations ago this dude was able to hold it for eighteen years, and then four generations later All Might was able to hold it for thirty-odd years or so, and now Deku has it and you all have no clue which way it’s gonna go? actually this makes it sound like it really wasn’t OFA that killed the Fourth at all and you guys are just really bad at forming hypotheses. but since you’re making a big plot point out of it I guess it must be true

and don’t think I didn’t notice the part where you said you didn’t have OFA very long and then “died while fighting”, Firsto. I want to hear more about that. specifically who you passed the quirk onto before your death

and yes, if we are agreeing that OFA was the cause of the Fourth’s death, then the conclusion on this next page is the natural one to draw

so that’s a bit of a relief then, because Deku is quirkless too. so it means he won’t be able to hold OFA forever (and will probably have to find another quirkless person to pass it on to), but at least he won’t be randomly dying out of the blue next Tuesday or something

oh my god now he’s talking about OFA and AFO and user consciousnesses and all sorts of good theory stuff but it’s so much exposition. you’re really gonna make me read all this lol

wait what. why would All Might being quirkless have anything to do with the presence of his vestige in OFA Outer Space Party Land

but Deku is also quirkless and he’s clearly visible and chatting with you guys. so what gives. like how much of this is verified fact and how much of it is you guys just shrugging and making stuff up lol

SERIOUSLY, GUYS

BUT DEKU IS ALSO -- you know what, never mind sob. none of this shit makes any sense but whatever

(ETA: seriously, this all seems like an awful lot of speculation on their part. for Deku’s sake I sure hope they’re right.)

FSSKDJFLSKLKJLKJL ALL MIGHT IS FIFTY-FIVE?!

lol that’s a full ten years past my closest estimate, wow. but this pretty much confirms his age now at last! or at least confirms it within a couple of years, because we know All Might and Nana met when he was in middle school, and he presumably had the quirk by the time he took the U.A. entrance exam. so yeah. gonna go with fifty-five

so they think that because All Might was quirkless, OFA was better able to adapt to his body and became his true quirk, as opposed to being an extra quirk that stacked on top of the one he already had and overwhelmed him. ties in back to the whole “AFO used to bend people to his will by forcing quirks on them” thing, as well as the “Noumus are all mindless because of the strain of having multiple quirks”

Two and Three are really ruining the serious vibe of this scene here lol

they look like they’re doing the counting for hide and seek

and is this Deku talking now? I was about to get mad at First for implying that quirkless people are somehow freaks, as opposed to “normal” people jdslk

so in other words, don’t go giving it to your best friend all casually for shits and giggles, Deku. even if it would make a really cool climax for a movie. well shit. maybe that’s why they were so quick to nope back into Deku’s body afterward

so First says that because quirkless people are becoming rarer and rarer, the fact that All Might just happened to stumble upon Deku is “nothing short of a miracle.” which, yeah, that was definitely a stroke of luck there. being quirkless saved his life. but being quirkless is also part of why he was chosen in the first place, and we’ve always known that much

“in other words, kiddo...”

looks like there was some hurried clone stamp usage going on here lol. but props to RHA as always for putting this scan out so fast, especially given how exposition-heavy this week’s chapter has been

“anyways, that was the main topic” ARE YOU SERIOUS. there are like ten other topics imma need you all to get to here, people

(ETA: seems like this is a mistranslation; the line should actually read something more along the lines of “and now for the main topic.”)

FFFFFFFFF

“ENJOY YOUR CLIFFHANGER THIS WEEK.” dskfalkjlkjwlgkjl you really went and dumped this discourse on us yet again. fucking...

(ETA: forgot to mention, but as several people mentioned, this seems to be another mistranslation -- rather than asking Deku to kill Tomura as though it’s doing her a personal favor, Nana is asking “will you be able to do it.” in other words more of an “are you capable of doing it” type of thing. which is a very reasonable question to ask given that Deku is, well, Deku.)

anyways, and the answer is obviously going to be “no” of course. this isn’t going to end any differently than when the previous Avatars all told Aang to kill Ozai. but I guess it means we’re in for a fun conversation next week

so Nana looks pretty grim here though (nothing at all like the person who once taught All Might the importance of saving people with a smile), and I’m wondering if this means she believes that her grandson is already beyond saving. as in killing him would be a mercy, as opposed to him continuing to live with AFO bending his mind and body to his will. except if that is the case, I think she’s underestimating Tomura’s own will. and definitely underestimating Deku’s will to save

and also, just... I’m so fucking sick of AFO screwing the Shimura family over, honestly. this is exactly what he wanted. well fuck you, guy. you don’t get to have what you want. go out there and save Tomura, Deku. for his sake and for Nana’s. give them some hope. do your thing, boy. can’t wait for your big speech all about it next chapter lol

#bnha 304 #midoriya izuku #all might #ofa prime #ofa iv #idk what his name is I forgot it already lol #the actual forty-year-old man #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #ofa the first

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blushie14 · 4 years

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Drawn To You [Skephalo]

Soulmate AU? …You know what? Heck yeah! Soulmate AU! This will be fun! For this AU, whatever you write/draw on yourself appears on your soulmate. Let’s go!

Growing up, Zak has never communicated with his soulmate by writing on himself. In fact, he felt indifferent about the concept of soulmates for most of his life.

He’s seen a few people who got lucky and actually met up with their soulmate. It’s pretty rare to find your soulmate while you’re young. Most people however can’t find their soulmate that easily, or choose not to write to their soulmate for whatever personal reason.

Now this didn’t mean that he wasn’t interested in finding his soulmate. It’s not like he didn’t care. He never really had anything to say. Besides, whoever his soulmate was never contacted him either.

Zak simply has never felt the need to interact. Not until recently that is. He has been wondering what would happen if he actually tried to write to them.

Some of his friends have shared stories of how they got their soulmate’s number or how their soulmate reached out to them first. It has got him thinking about it a bit.

If he wanted to write on himself to contact his soulmate, what would he even do? Would his soulmate even write anything back? What were they even like? This person who is supposedly destined to have a deep connection with him is probably a complete stranger right now.

So Zak questioned himself, what should he do to capture his soulmate’s attention?

Then Zak had this… crazy idea one day when he was bored. He grabbed a couple of sharpies, went to the bathroom, looked into the mirror, and removed the sharpie cap.

It was a normal Tuesday afternoon. Darryl was going to do a late night stream, but he decided to stream a little early this time with face cam. It was a chill stream on the idiots smp, even if he was the only one online right now. It was pretty nice so far.

“Okay, VanessaTheMuffin! Fifty dollars is too much! Thank you for the dono, but no! Stap it!” He restates the donation out loud. “Do I know if Skeppy is going to get on the smp today? Well um..” He thinks for a moment while scratching the upper part of his lip.

“I am 95% sure that he’s going to join me later on? He might be doing something else at the moment… I wonder what he’s doing.” He hummed to himself before having an idea. “Ooh! Do you think I can build a little Skeppy statue right here?”

He was about to look at the chat before another donation appeared. When the donation was read out loud, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

Lovemepls donated 5 dollars: Yo homie what is on your face lol

“What? What do you mean?” He looked at his chat which was moving surprisingly fast. Trying to read some of the comments, it seems everyone has been saying similar things.

SilverGalaxy: Uhhh you got a little.. somethin… Maddyisadork: A wild mustache appeared! DeezVibez: MUSTACHE LMAO

“Mustache?” He took a moment to open his stream on another tab and was bewildered at the sight. A mustache was messily drawn on him with sharpie above his upper lip. “The fudge?! What is this?!”

Darryl covered his mouth in confusion. “How in the world did- ..Where did this come from?!” Puzzled, Darryl couldn’t connect the dots on how this mustache suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

He felt this strange itching sensation around his left eye, similar to the sensation he glossed over earlier above his upper lip.

Rubbing his left eye, he looked at his facecam again. “AH! Oh my goodness!” Darryl freaked out when a drawing of a monocle around his eye faded in right before his very eyes. “What is going on?!”

Tumbling Croissant: OMG AHAHAHA ADoseOfLove: Wow your soulmate has great taste! Memesnotfound: Aww your soulmate is drawing on you lol

That’s when it clicked… His soulmate.

“My soulmate is.. oh my goodness.” Darryl didn’t even know what to say or think. He has never heard anything from his soulmate before. Then the one time they decided to reach out to him, they decided to draw on his face?!

“Is my own soulmate seriously pranking me!? They even had to do it while I was streaming out of all the muffiny times!” He sighed. “I’m so done.”

Darryl chuckled a bit after the shock and confusion faded. It’s true that he was a little annoyed, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t find this even a little funny.

AwesomePeter23 donated 10 dollars: Your soulmate is something special lol. I already love them and I wanna see them draw more.

“No they- Don’t say that! This is unacceptable!” Darryl crossed his arms and pouted. “I’ve never met my soulmate before, but whoever they are I hereby declare them a complete raggamuffin!” He shouted out and suddenly felt the tip of his nose itch.

“I swear if they added something new..” Once again he looked at his facecam and found a red dot drawn on his nose. “Oh come on! Are you flipping serious?!”

Pyro_Plays: CLOWNBOYHALO!!! OwOStawws: PFFFT ComradeinArms: WRITE THEM BACK PLEASE I BEG

“You know what? I’m grabbing a pen.”

Zak was staring at the mirror laughing at himself a little. “This is so stupid. I look so stupid! Why am I doing this?!” Despite questioning his life decisions, he thought about what he should draw next.

He reached for a marker in order to make himself look more clownlike until he felt his left hand itch. As he was scratching his palm he found writing on his hand.

“WHY!? >:0”

Zak couldn’t help but burst out laughing at this. The fact that they decided to draw a little emoticon just made this even funnier. “Oh my god what have I done?!” He grabbed the sharpie and giggled while writing out his response.

Meanwhile, Darryl was still streaming, looking at his left palm. A message appeared on his arm and he read it outloud.

“Because I wanna make you look pretty?! What kind of excuse is that?! I- This little rapscallion! I can’t believe them!”

King Kitty donated 5 dollars: You lookin fabulous there bad!

“You are all muffin heads..” Darryl grumbled. He wrote a little angry emoticon on himself in response to his soulmate. To his surprise he didn’t get a response back, but Zak suddenly texted him that he was going on teamspeak right now.

“Oh great. Guys, guess who decided to show up?” Darryl smiled and covered his face. “Is this even a good time or not? I don’t even know!” As soon as he moved Zak into his teamspeak, he could hear him giggling far from his mic. “Hey Skeppy. I’m streaming right now, and you aren’t going to believe what happened to me!”

“Bad I did something stupid.” Zak said quickly as his giggles died down.

“Oh wow, what else is new?” He laughed a bit. “Okay sorry Skeppy, I was just joking.”

“Wooow, okay. I was gonna ask you for help but now I’m-”

“Nonono Skeppy you know I’m just kidding please don’t leave.”

“I know! I know, but Baaaaad I think they’re mad at meeee.”

“Who’s mad at you? What did you do?” Laughter poured out from Zak before he responded. “What did you do Skeppy?!”

“Can you help me make them not mad? I actually don’t know what to say next all they did was send me a dumb emoticon thingy.”

“Yes. I can help Skeppy. Can you just tell me what happened?”

“Okay So- You know how I said that I’ve never written to my soulmate before?”

“Uhuh? Wait..” Darryl gasped. “Did you?”

“Yes and I did what was probably the stupidest thing I could’ve done.”

“Oh my goodness, what did you do? I mean, it can’t be as silly as what my soulmate did.”

Zak’s eyes widened in surprise. “You heard from your soulmate already?!”

“Uhh.” Darryl looked at his face again and just laughed a little. “Yeah, they recently did. What did you even say to them anyways?”

“Oh I didn’t really say anything to them at first. I kinda… I kinda drew on their face.” He nervously laughed.

…Wait a minute.

“You.. You what?” Darryl’s casual light hearted voice suddenly turned soft and serious as a look of disbelief was on his face.

“I drew some things on my face and then they got mad at me. I said something else afterwards but-”

“Waitwaitwait.” Darryl’s heart was starting to race, but he needed to confirm this before he got his hopes up even further. “What did you draw on them? I need to know.”

Zak got confused for a moment before answering. “Uhhh well I made them look like they had a mustache. And then I drew the monocle to go with it. After that I just drew a teeny little red dot on the nose… I was running out of ideas.”

Everything went silent as Darryl stared at his screen, red in the face. He was looking at the chat and surely enough it had exploded as everyone was losing their minds.

“Bad? …Are you there?”

Mashyapotatoes: OH MY GOD NO WAY! NO WAY!!!!! Disoriented Vine: Well shit this is actually happening?! Amber: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

There was almost too much for Darryl to process. His soulmate drew on his face live on stream. His soulmate unknowingly revealed himself to him AND thousands of fans. His soulmate has no idea why he’s suddenly so silent.

His soulmate… is Zak.

The situation was so unbelievably ridiculous. Darryl, being overwhelmed with shock and delight he just.. broke down into silent laughter, leaning forward as he covered his face with both hands.

Zak, still being confused and oblivious to the situation, got concerned. “The heck? Bad?…Are you okay?! What happened?! I actually can’t tell if you’re laughing or crying!”

Darryl couldn’t really tell either. He sat up for a moment and tried to speak, but to no avail as he started laughing again, facing down on his desk with a thud.

“Oh my god.” Zak laughed a little. “Seriously, what happened?! Are you okay?!”

Darryl eventually calmed down enough to barely speak. “Skeppy, look at my stream!”

“Okay? Why?”

“Take ONE good look at my face! ..And then you’ll see why!” He shouted out.

That was when the realization hit Zak as he felt his face warming up “No… There is no way that-..” He has never searched anything up so fast in his entire life.

When he saw Darryl’s facecam, Zak burst into hysterics when he saw the same thing drawn on Darryl’s face.

“Look at what you did to me Skeppy! Look at what you did!” Darryl shrieked, laughing and facing down on his desk with a thud once again.

“NO- DUDE- NO FUCKING WAY!”

Darryl, being in hysterics as well, barely muttered out a “language.”

“AND THE ENTIRE STREAM JUST- OH MY GOD NOHOHOOO!!”

“Skeppy whyyy!! …I look ridiculous Skeppyyyy!!”

It was complete hysteria for 2 minutes straight until both of them finally started to calm down, taking deep breaths.

“Oh my god, dude I-” Zak spoke out. “I don’t even know where to begin.. you’re my soulmate! What do you even think of it!?”

Darryl sheepishly smiled. “Actually I.. I’ve always kind of secretly hoped that it would be you.”

“..Really?” Zak asked in a soft tone, feeling his heart skip a beat.

“Yes! I-” Darryl looked at his stream. “Hang on a second. Sorry guys, I’m gonna to stop streaming right here. Maybe I’ll stream again later and if not, tomorrow. I hope you all understand.”

ImForeverScreeching: Awwwww nooooooo PenguinRaven: Awww! Yeah we understand! <3 Lemon_Lime49: I just got back, why does bad look like that?

“Byeeee!” Darryl ended the stream.

“Dude, everyone on every social media is going to explode. What have I done?!”

“Oh my goodness you muffin head. I’m already silencing my Twitter notifications temporarily.”

The both of them chuckled and stayed silent for a moment. Zak was letting it fully sink in that Darryl is his soulmate. “I’m.. finding it really hard to believe that it’s you..”

“Why? ..Are you not happy about it?”

“Wh- NO! Nononono, I’m happy I’m VERY happy about it.” Zak quickly made that clear. “I just never thought that it would be you! I’m really happy that it’s you though. I cannot think of anyone more perfect..”

“Awww Geppy!” Darryl smiled. “I’m really happy about it too. Like, you have no idea how happy I am. You may have been such a muffin head, but you’re always my muffin head..”

Zak giggled a bit. “I really really want to see you now..”

“Me too.. Wanna plan to meet up ASAP?”

Two weeks have passed since it’s been revealed that the two were soulmates, and it was pretty wild. As they predicted, the information spread like wildfire in the fandom. Skephalo shippers definitely had a field day with that too.

Zak and Darryl took a break from making content only for a few days, but were talking to each other even more often. They slowly went back to making content and started telling their fans they were finally meeting up.

After planning everything out, Zak got on a flight to meet up and stay with Bad for a week. As soon as he departed from the plane, he felt a little nervous but extremely excited.

He roamed around the airport looking for Darryl. A few minutes went by until Zak felt a familiar itch on his left palm and looked to find a message.

“Hi <3”

Zak quickly looked around him until he saw Darryl smiling and waving in front of him. He smiled wide and started to run excitingly towards him. Darryl was surprised for a moment before raising his arms, bracing for impact.

“Skeppy!” Zak almost tackled him as he wrapped his arms around him as Darryl laughed and hugged back.

Skeppy giggled. “Did you really bring a pen with you just so you can write hi as soon as you see me?!”

“Hey, I thought it was fitting okay? You muffin head…” Darryl pouted.

Zak didn’t move away from the hug. He melts into the embrace, hugging Darryl closer as he spoke out softly. “Well.. hi..”

Darryl smiled and stared at Zak as a warm and comforting feeling washed over them. He didn’t want to let go and just wanted to keep him in his arms forever. “Oh my goodness, you just got here and I already don’t want you to leave in seven days..”

“Nooo, don’t think about that right now! I’m just happy to be here now..”

“Yeah..” Darryl wrapped his arms around Zak even more. “Me too.”

[End]

#skephalo #badboyhalo #skeppy #fanfiction #my writing #soulmate au

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thanks--for--listening · 4 years

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Siren Call

okay i’ve been convinced lol so here it is. another BOP fanfic. DinahxHelena but pre-relationship bc thats my fav thing to write. also on ao3

It always happened in the quiet moments. The early hours of the morning, when the leftover energy from a mission hadn’t quite disappeared yet. The sleepless nights, when memories clawed their way into her mind and wouldn’t let go until her screams released them. The lazy afternoons, when the radio played softly and melodies she’d almost forgotten danced around her lips. It was only when the world went still that Dinah felt her watching.

She didn’t remember the first time she noticed it. The staring. Maybe it was because Helena was always watching everything and everyone around them that Dinah didn’t realize how frequently that attention fell on her. How it felt different. Helena looked at the world with suspicion and anger and indifference, but not her. She looked at her with something much softer, something she hadn’t found a name for just yet. No word in her arsenal was deep enough or strong enough to describe it.

Whatever it was, she could feel it now.

The question she longed to ask sat on her tongue but she forced it to wait. She just wanted a minute, because they were both sitting here, and the silence between them was comfortable and easy and precious. They were all still getting used to this living together thing, but right now, sitting with Helena, both of them done with breakfast but not ready to move on with the day yet, felt like the most familiar thing in the world. It was early enough that the sun had both risen and was still rising, it’s light shining through their window at an angle that, when Helena sat in the kitchen chair in front of her, made her look almost angelic. Dinah gave herself a second to appreciate the view.

“What do you see,” she finally asked, “when you look at me?”

Helena’s eyes widened, and Dinah couldn’t help but laugh. “I—I don’t—I don’t look at you,” she said, her eyes now uncharacteristically cast towards her lap. Dinah followed her gaze, saw her hands fidget with the hair tie around her wrist. It hadn’t taken her very long to discover that the Helena who showed up during a fight was a completely different person than the Helena who showed up anywhere else. Fight Helena never got nervous, never second-guessed herself. She was all confidence and muscle and focused rage, nothing like the woman in front of her, quiet and awkward and hesitant, avoiding eye contact and twisting a hair tie in her lap over and over again. She didn’t know how she could have two completely different people inside herself, how she found a balance between that. If she found a balance.

“You look at everyone,” Dinah answered, “but not in the same way.”

“What do you mean?” She didn’t know if it was a genuine question or a way to deflect, but she answered it anyway.

“You know,” she said, “like Harley. Every time you watch her, you always get confused. Your eyebrows scrunch up right here,” Dinah pointed to the spot on her own forehead, and watched Helena mirror her, “and your eyes get a little squinty.”

“They do?”

Dinah nodded. “And Renee, you always look a little scared of her. Which is crazy, because you could totally beat her in a fight. Don’t tell her I said that,” she added quickly, glancing at the room where Renee was sure to be in bed for at least another two hours, “but you totally could. And yet when you’re with her, there’s always at least one moment where you get so...skittish. It’s like the elephant afraid of the mouse.”

Helena smiled, just barely, and Dinah felt a warmth that the sun couldn’t provide. “I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit,” she said softly. “She could beat me.”

“Oh, she’d make you work for it,” Dinah said, “but when it comes down to it, my money’s on you, Crossbow.” Helena’s smile grew, and she didn’t know if it was because of the sentiment or the nickname. She wished she did, if only so she could keep saying whatever made her look at her like that. “You know,” Dinah continued, “modesty is not something I would have pegged you as having after our first meeting.”

“What, you’re saying saving everyone’s asses didn’t make me seem modest?”

“Excuse you, that was a team effort.” She joked, and Helena kept smiling, which made her smile, which left them sitting there, smiling at one another underneath the sunlight. “You know what, I take it back,” she said, pretending to look away. “You’re as arrogant as the rest of us.”

“Oh no, I’m heartbroken.” She deadpanned, and Dinah lost it. She didn’t really get it, but somehow everything was funnier when Helena said it. Maybe it was because she didn’t joke around that often. It was as if she didn’t know how to, or didn’t trust herself to be funny, but that only made it more special to Dinah when she did.

They sat in that feeling for a while, the warmth of getting along. Dinah wanted to keep talking, but there was something about the silence she didn’t want to interrupt yet. So she watched, and she tried to memorize this moment, draw it out and stick it in her pocket so she could look back on it later and remember what it felt like to truly relax.

“Can I tell you something?” Helena said, and even though they were technically in the middle of a conversation, it still caught her by surprise. Helena wasn’t the one to break the silence. She seemed so comfortable in it. She could spend hours without ever making a sound. Dinah didn’t understand it. She knew she wasn’t Harley, who couldn’t stand any moment passing by without making noise, but Dinah still liked to have something to fill the space around her. It was what she was used to. The quiet unnerved her in a way that Helena seemed immune to.

She realized Helena was waiting for a response. She did that a lot. Stuff like rhetorical questions and sarcasm and pop culture references often went right over her head. Harley and Renee liked to poke fun about it, but Dinah secretly found it endearing. It added to her genuity. Made her really easy to trust, despite her inclination for silence.

Dinah nodded, and Helena kept talking. “You’re why I stayed to fight. That first day.”

“Really?”

“It was when you took the gun from Cass, when you fought for her. That’s what made me stay.”

“Why?”

“I couldn’t tell,” she said, “with Harley. What her intentions were with the kid. But you — you wanted to keep her safe. I knew it. So if you were in, and you trusted the others enough to fight with you, then I figured I could trust them, too.”

Helena finished her sentence and looked up, almost as if looking for approval. Dinah smiled at her, and she watched as her shoulders relaxed just slightly.

“Oh, I’m definitely telling Harley that,” she said, and Helena looked almost confused, so she added, “I’ve gotta rub it in her face. She still thinks it was her rousing speech that brought us all together.”

Helena laughed, an occurrence as rare as her starting a conversation. Dinah secretly thought it was partly her fault. She’d come to realize that Helena might have looked at each of them differently, but when she was watching the group all together, it was like she was studying them. Like she was learning how she was supposed to act with them. After their first team-up, when Harley and Cass stole her car, Helena had straight up cackled, but she’d stopped when she saw her and Renee. Something in the way they looked at her made her stop. In the couple months since then, she’d never laughed like that again.

“Hey,” Helena said, “you never told me how I look at Cass,” and Dinah tried to control her face, she really did, but Helena noticed everything. It was almost annoying, how hard it was to hide around her. She didn’t always get what it meant, but she always saw the emotional stuff. Shifts in mood, tone changes, body language, none of it went unnoticed. She was blind to sarcasm but saw sadness before you even felt it. Dinah watched her process the shift she felt happen, watched her body tense back up again. “Sorry,” She said, even though Dinah knew she didn’t know why she was apologizing, “I—um, I shouldn’t have—“

“No,” she stopped her, “don’t. It’s not you. I just—“ she sighed. “With Cass, I noticed you...you always look a little sad. And I don’t know why.”

Helena gave her a look she couldn’t quite pin down. She almost looked scared, although of what she wasn’t sure. “I don’t want Cass to think she makes me sad,” she said after a minute, her voice so quiet Dinah could barely hear her from across the table.

“It’s not that obvious,” she said. “It’s just...it’s like you’re seeing two things at once. Like you see her happy, and you look happy, but there’s something in your eyes that sees something else, and that’s what’s sad.”

Ten seconds of agony passed as they sat there, the words lingering between them, before the silence made her too restless.

“What do I know, though, right?” Dinah said, with a smile that was only mostly forced. “Forget about it. I’m probably just making shit up, or—“

“I think you’re right.” Her voice was soft but the words were loud somehow. Dinah waited. She hoped the silence would do for Helena the opposite of what it did for her. Minutes passed, one right after the other swallowed up by the quiet. Helena didn’t talk like this very often, but when she did, she spoke as if every word mattered, as if each sentence was a puzzle and she had to wait to find the right pieces before she could put it all together.

Eventually, she found them. “Sometimes, when I see Cass, and I see the life she has, I think...I think that we’re too late.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think we saved her too late.” She looked up, and Dinah felt like she was staring right through her. “I think about the shit she’s seen already. I think about how we’re all she has, and I think that we’re not enough. I think that she probably wakes up screaming like you do, and I think about whether she’ll always wake up screaming or whether she’ll learn how to stop it, and I think that’s a terrible lesson for a kid to learn, and it makes me so angry but I won’t let her see me angry because I refuse make her life worse. And then I think that makes me really fucking sad.”

Dinah had never heard so many words come out of her mouth at once, each one more heartbreaking than the last. Helena just sat there, eyes wide and breath a little shaky. She could see her hands balled up in fists, could feel the pain rolling off her like waves onto a shore. She could feel the anger in the aftermath, tension in the air so thick she wondered how there was still any oxygen left to breathe, pain so heavy she wondered how Helena walked around every day without shattering under the sheer weight of it all.

Dinah couldn’t stand it.

“Don’t freak out,” she told her as she stood up, “but I’m going to hug you now, because I don’t know the right thing to say and because I think you need it.”

Dinah walked around the table slowly, part of her waiting for a protest that never came. Helena just sat there, staring straight ahead as if it was the only thing keeping her together. It wasn’t until Dinah placed a hand on her shoulder that she acknowledged she’d left her seat. Dinah reached out her hands, waited for Helena to take them, waited until she’d pulled her up out of her chair, before putting her arms around her.

Helena just stood there. Dinah had her head against her chest, could feel her heart racing and her body trembling, just slightly. She realized she’d never hugged her before, and she tried to think of the last time someone hugged Helena. Had Harley or Renee? Cass? Any of the men who raised her? Or had she not felt the comfort of familiar arms around her since before she lost her family? The thought made her squeeze tighter.

She let go after a minute. Helena’s arms never moved from their position at her side, but Dinah didn’t mind. She looked up at her, and she thought she saw tears in her eyes, but it must have been a trick of the light, because she’d never once seen Helena cry.

“I know talking isn’t really your thing,” Dinah said, “but you know if you ever want to, you can talk to me.”

She turned, walked back to her seat, but stopped when she realized Helena hadn’t moved, was still staring at the place Dinah had stood, as if she saw something that wasn’t there.

“You alright, H?” She asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know.” The words came out as a whisper. She looked over, and she wished she had Helena’s skill, because her face was a mosaic of emotions and Dinah couldn’t make out a single one. “Harley says I need therapy.”

Dinah chuckled. “We probably all need therapy. Harley included.”

“Yeah,” She said, but there was something in the way she spoke that made Dinah hesitate.

“Do you…” She started, not sure if she was crossing a line in asking but also not sure she could just leave the conversation alone. “Is that...something you want to do?”

Helena didn’t say anything for so long Dinah wondered whether she was still here or whether she’d drifted off into her own head, whether she wanted Dinah to come find her and bring her back down to earth. “I don’t want to be angry all the time,” she finally said, her voice soft and strong and tired all at the same time, “but I don’t know how else to be.”

“I get it.” Helena raised her eyebrow at her, just slightly. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m not just saying it,” Dinah sighed, the words coming out without her permission. “When I lost my mom, I spent so much time pissed off at the world. Part of me still is, I guess. It just always felt like if I wasn’t angry, then what happened to her was okay. Like, if I let go of my anger, then I’m letting go of the last thing I have of her.”

Helena was quiet again, and she knew she just had to wait for it, but she was impatient and emotional and desperate to fix what was almost certainly unfixable. “What happens when you do let go?” Helena asked.

Dinah shrugged, tried to keep herself grounded. Psychoanalyzing her traumatic past was not something she’d anticipated doing this morning. “If I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”

Helena just nodded. Neither of them spoke for a while, until the quiet became too much, left too much room for her mind to wander. “How can you stand it?” She blurted out. Helena gave her a confused look, and she elaborated. “So much silence. You never seem phased by it.”

“Growing up, I was taught to meditate. I used to—“ she stopped herself, and Dinah was desperate to know the end of the sentence but knew she couldn’t rush it, had to wait and see how deep the well would go, how much Helena would give her if she showed she was willing to listen. “I didn’t stop hearing it for a while,” she finally said, and she didn’t lower her voice but something in the way she spoke felt different than before. “The shots. The echoes. The screams. But a killer who can’t live in silence will always get caught. So I had to learn. And now,” she shrugged. “Now I don’t mind it.”

Dinah almost didn’t ask, but she didn’t think she’d get another chance. “Do you still hear it?”

Helena sat very still, before nodding ever so slightly.

“Yeah,” Dinah sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Me, too.”

“I know.” She must have made a face, because Helena hesitantly added, “I hear you when you wake up at night. I used to scream like that, too.”

“Used to?”

“Learning to stop was one of the first things they taught me.”

“And how did they manage to do that?”

Helena looked away, and she felt a pit in her stomach drop. “Ask me anything else,” she said, and Dinah knew it was both a deflection and an invitation, one she wouldn’t let pass on either account.

“You never answered my first question,” she told her, and Helena glanced back up, and God, there was just something about the way she looked at her that made her brave and bold and desperate in a way she’d never felt before.

“You’re the one who’s paying attention,” Helena responded. “How do I look at you?”

She wanted to tell her that her face was a language she didn’t quite understand yet, that every movement and shift was sending a message but when it came to her, she just couldn’t read them, or wouldn’t, because she didn’t know whether she saw what was real or what she wanted to see. “I don’t know,” she answered instead. “That’s why I asked.”

Helena was quiet again, but Dinah would wait ages to get an answer. She buried that realization deep into the back of her mind, let it sit there for her to contemplate later. Or never. Never worked, too.

“When I look at you,” Helena started, and Dinah expected her to look away but instead she stared right at her, “I feel safe. And I haven’t felt safe in a long time.”

Dinah smiled. She didn’t realize how often she did that now. Ever since they started fighting together, ever since they started spending the time in between fights together, she hasn’t felt like she was waiting for the world to fall apart, like being happy wasn’t worth it because it was temporary. She wondered if that meant she was finally living. Not just surviving— living.

She wanted to tell Helena it had been a long time since she’d felt that way, too, but she didn’t. She had a million things she wanted to tell her, things she’d never told anyone else before, and knowing just how badly she wanted it scared her in a way she couldn’t quite describe. When Helena looked at her, when she spoke, it was like a siren call, and Dinah felt every open every wound and sealed memory beckon to be released. More than anything, she wanted to let them go.

But not today. She knew that both of them had probably already passed their limit for emotional vulnerability for the day (or week), so she left it alone, let the words die on her tongue and silently vowed to give them life again soon. She had time, a realization that didn’t feel as daunting as it used to. The thought kept the smile on her face, even as she stood up. Grabbing both of their plates, she hummed a tune as she walked to the sink and hoped Helena heard her, hoped she knew that the song on her lips was for her and no one else, hoped she recognized it for what it was: a siren call of her own.

#bop #birds of prey #pleaaaaase let me know what you think!#i thrive off the validation from others #dinah x helena #dinah lance #helena bertinelli #TFLAO3 #fanfic #bop fanfic #ao3

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itsdappleagain · 4 years

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CS Season 3 Thoughts...

Okay, overall?? Kinda disappointed, like a lot of people. Only five episodes, its been covered. Its disappointing. But lets go over them, shall we...

The Luchadora Tango Caper

Overall thoughts? Well, this season seems so....separated? Kind of out of character and disconnected. I’ll go over why at the end.

Haha, do the Cleaners do everything?? They can cook, rig explosives, kidnap people, play bagpipes, fly a helicopter...is technology really their weakness? Oops. That’s not for another few episodes.

Poor Cleo. She seems rather out of character in this season too. All she wants is to be warm. Throughout, she seems so...almost inexperienced? Where’s the sharp-tongued, sarcastic, delicate in taste and style Cleo we know? She’s there in places.....just...

They faked us out. I thought we were going to see Carmen tangoing. Also, is it just me, or is there a lot of...leg wrapping...this season..?

Ah yes, thank you, musical cues, I was worried Shadow-san had torn Carmen to pieces since Season 3. That’s her triumph score; maybe its like a “welcome back to cs” or something. Honestly, the whole “she’s been missing all summer” seems weird and unexplained, and unnecessary.

Does Veracruz exist? Yes, it does, how did that fly under our radars?

“I have his eyes” tore me to bits. Oh my gosh what a line. She’s seeing her father for the first time.

Thank you for showing us the 10 passports and giving us some pictures, we will never hear anything about Dexter or Vera after this episode again

She was an adorable baby and Carmen acknowledging this is hilarious

“Who may I have the pleasure of declining?” is another really funny line to me

This fight between Carmen and Spinkick has no suspense and its really a bad one to be honest, but holy crap Spinkick can dent stone lol

It makes a lot of sense that Catching Carmen Sandiego 101 is a class now, lol. I really want to see it. That- those fights were horrible by the way. Does Shadowsan know how to use the bolas? Because we know Carmen sure can’t.

Coach sure does like making messes and ruining tables

Ivy is so supportive this season and I am here for it. Kinda unlike Zack who is just “Hi, I hate fish and I misunderstand names” guy.

Yeah Maelstrom, what the hell did you let her walk for? Brunt easily captured her and you want to enforce sketchy psychological doubts in her mind? What?

Don’t show your face, Maelstrom says to Brunt. You know. After kidnapping a law enforcer with apparently perfect face memory recall who now has your face plastered all over wanted posters. Oh, and that Lutedor you knocked out didn’t see your face either

There is so much indirect calling Carmen good looking this season? What? I mean she is but it is so weird

Zack saying juicy steaks is so so uncomfortable

Carmen is so disengaged this season???? *Finds a link to her mother and pictures of her father* oh its another *sad sigh* link to my past. *Wow, you look like your mother, and I knew her, and her name!* Oh. Can you tell me about her.. Family is Carmen’s main trigger and source of steam in s1 and, mostly, s2. Now we get actual parts about it and she seems like she doesn’t care.

HAHA! Julia even gets her own little entrance with music and “camera” angles. And she is SO dismissively sassy sometimes in this season, I love what little we do get of her. I mean it is REALLY out of character, she hardly ever gets sassy/angry. But everyone is out of character so what the hell might as well enjoy it

“We have a fresh Carmen sighting!” Devineaux: “Haha!” Julia: *sigggggghhh* Julia girl, whats up? Please don’t leave forever. I know you said your head was in the game but your heart wasn’t, but? What? Why? Your heart seems to have been in it in season 2! Did you have a really bad summer??

Player has a space alien and a sock on his dresser and why am I not surprised

Okay, Carmen, because sitting down against a door you’re waiting to open (and you have waited for three seconds) is a great thing to do

Hahhaha Player. “I’m sorry, did you not attend a school for thieves?” Carmen is so sad though “Hey, just broke into your house, I’m your long lost daughter” and she should be sadder about the long lost daughter thing!??! It is so out of character!?!?

And so, Uncatchable Master Super Thief Carmen Sandiego breaks into an unknown house without checking it for people or weapons, after waiting three seconds to be let in. What? What?

The casual use of “mommy” and “daddy” is so, so very strange and I hate it a lot

*Snort* Zack and Ivy are doing their best but it is sot hard to see how they got caught by VILE in TSONTS

jgkjjdf Ivy just slings Zack to the floor and he can not move her an inch

I love Lupe a lot and I hope she returns

Carmen is more wholesome in this season too, it seems, probably because of this whole disengaged character shift but its cute

Devineaux *s t r u t s*

I would be concerned if Chief hadn’t made him take the driving course but I was still terrified for Julia’s life ALSO JULIA JUST. ROLLS HER EYES SASSY QUEEN

How is it that Zack and Ivy haven’t been arrested or killed yet, they have been seen so many times with her

Ah, yes. The famed roses scene. Okay, fine, fine....ugh

Julia is looking for Carmen behind because she learned her lesson with Devineaux! yes

Julia knows what is up but Devineaux gesturing at the trophies is pretty funny

Carmen just gets yoinked off her feet by Brunt and it is the most concerned she has been all season and will be all season because getting lifted off your feet in a crowded public place with strong friends and lawmen all around is much scarier than being electrocuted, kidnapped, and gagged on a plane going to an unknown location

Coach Brunt was the Imposter

“This isn’t your fight,” Carmen says, instead of accepting help from the woman who she has seen easily lift probably 300 pounds or more to help her get rid of the lady who’s tried to murder her like twice and nearly succeeded

Oh my gosh Devineaux actually spots her peeking out and recognizes her instead of blindly following Zack/Ivy and Carmen is PEEKING OUT WHY

Carmen is handcuffed and its really funny She just drags him along like later would be a much better time for her fhdgfkhdhsf Also she is much funnier when she threatens people with a bumbling idiot cuffed to her wrist, although he is much less of a bumbling idiot this season, I must say

Of. Course. Carmen has a device which just unlocks handcuffs why wouldn’t she?!

How is Devineaux not dead

HAHA SHE JUST EXAPSERATEDLY DRAGS HIM AWAY “COME ON DEVINEAUX” that is quiet honestly hilarious to me like “My god why do I have to keep dragging you out of stupidly dangerous situations involving Brunt where you get injured”

Oh? Did they rehearse Lupe jumping off Carmen’s back? Lupe had no way to know Carmen was strong or steady enough to handle that

Saira cackling at Brunt getting beat up is the best thing I’ve ever witnessed and she is drawing a thief cat oh my god

Did Lupe still win if that wasn’t her opponent and she had help from Carmen and a debatably helpful policeman

Julia my child what happened to you? Why are you like Zari now?

Devineaux just can’t keep a car in good condition ever can he? I love how Julia just stands there covering her mouth with her hands

My god Carmen are you going to tell your story and motives to every person you meet this season? Oh? Yes? Oh, okay

No, Brunt, not a single soul saw your face. Nope.

VILE is so, so very unsinister during most of these episodes. They went from murder and trauma to pumpkin carving and nougat

Well, anyway. I’ll do more episodes coming soon.

#carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego season three #carmen sandiego spoilers #carmen sandiego season three spoilers #spoilers

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starglasszodiac · 6 years

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SGZ Anniversary - Cassie and the Comic

The big one, the origin story!!!! And honestly one of my favourite memories to look back on. :’D I’ll be talking about both the idea itself and the evolution of Cassie’s character in what is a BEHEMOTH of a text post, so here we go!

While July 19th, 2015 is the official origin day of SGZ, it started a bit prior to that. I have this story already somewhat explained on the blog’s FAQ page, but I might as well reiterate it here:

SGZ started as an idea in the summer of 2015 after my buddy Laura showed me two webcomics: Paranatural by Zack Morrison, and Vibe by Dan Ciurczak (two comics I highly recommend, please go read them!). I loved how vibrant and beautiful their artwork was despite how different their stories were, and how wonderful the writing and humour was. My two biggest creative passions have always been visual art and writing, but ironically this was what really flicked the switch in my head to actually try comics, the literal combination of the two. Why I didn’t start sooner will forever be a mystery to me, but I suppose a lack of exposure to comics as a kid had something to do with it. Better late than never, right?

The specific launch day of July 19th is an homage to not only the creation of the idea but of the main protagonist, Cassie. After thinking “hey, I could do this!” I started wondering what I should make a comic about. While working at my retail job (on the slowest day in existence), I began to make a list of things that I liked or wanted to write a story about, and stars / astrology was one of them. I had always loved that aspect of mythology, and my affection for stars is a mystery to no one.

I worked at what was effectively a Blockbuster clone in my hometown (RIP Cherry Hill Video) and we had scrap pieces of paper that we made from old movie facings, so the first ever notes and doodles for this series exist on these scraps. I’ve still got quite a few of them, but they got a bit scattered when I moved for college. I’m hoping the rest are at my house somewhere.

I got the idea of a girl with a star in her eye, and called it the Starglass. And, well, the idea went from there! I started researching all of the zodiac signs and symbols, and drew the first (digital) drawing of Cassie when I got back home that day. Which, looked like this:

Seeing this again is not only weird and oddly nostalgic but it’s a testament to where my artistic sensibilities were prior to going to animation school. The idea for SGZ happened mere months before I was thrown into that 3-year fray of insanity so the evolution is pretty odd in places, especially how my knowledge of shape language, anatomy, etc. evolved and how my style adapted to that. I had almost NEVER drawn humans prior to going to college, so a lot of the art for this series deals with my inability to do so at the start. ^^’ The awkward phase, if you will. And as such, it is the first story idea I had that primarily focused on humans.

Looking back on it, Cassie’s character in terms of personality was pretty different than what it is now, but from a visual standpoint there’s (surprisingly) a lot that stayed. The basic idea of her hair stayed, right down to the double ponytail and orange clasps. Her freckles, eye colour and general face shape too, even if that ended up modified after solidifying her character later.

Her main colour was always red, in fact after making the headshot I remember having NO IDEA what to do for the rest of her body, so it just ended up being RED. Then I added the blue for the contrast, but I still wasn’t happy with it at the time (a perhaps subconscious origin for her blue pants though, lol). I also find amusement in the fact that my current concept for her mother Nora has her wearing blue flats much like these.

Based on the notes I have and what I remember, Cassie was older at this point (like 15 or 16 probably) and seemed to be a lot more sarcastic (this is a norm for a lot of my characters, trust me). xD Some of the first character interactions I ever wrote largely involved Cassie being sassy to one of the signs, back when a few of them were being over dramatic (looking at you SCORPIO). I cackled reading those interactions again now that my characters have changed so much. They’re not well written at all but they still let me look back to that time with fondness. :’D

What is also interesting is the progression of her name, or the fact that she didn’t have one right at the start. My earliest notes have simply Starglass or SG whenever I wrote dialogue. I started trying to think of a name, and contrary to popular belief, settling on Cassie actually had nothing to do with Cassiopeia. Though I do really enjoy the irony of that. xD It started with Cass, which could be short for either Cassandra or Cassidy, and I ended up going with Cassidy. I then changed it to Cassie, as I find the -ie suffix makes it a lot cuter. I am biased though, my name ends with it too, aha. There is a note that spells it as Cassi and for the life of me I cannot determine if that was a typo or not, but when I write fast I miss letters sometimes. The nickname of “Star” was one the table for a while too, and now that Star VS exists it’s even funnier. I specifically recall my mother telling me that she was going to suggest Star on the Facebook post I had made for the art at the time, but thought maybe it was too obvious. She was right, though this idea lives on in the nicknames that the signs end up giving Cassie later on, my favourite being “Little Star”.

While development for the story and characters started right away, it got a much welcomed jumpstart at the beginning of my second year at animation school. We were given a character design project that would span the entire year, and would require a story concept to complete all of the assignments. We were told this fact in first year to give us time to prepare over the summer, and I had just pulled an all-nighter to finish an assignment that day, but upon hearing this news I was not tired at all. Character design was already my favourite class, but this put it over the top. That beautiful feeling of inspiration that hits you is the BEST and in that moment nothing else mattered. Not even my fatigue, which I promptly dealt with the next day.

I used this as an opportunity to spend time developing the designs and story progression of all the characters, while getting marks for it at the same time! This is largely the reason I was able to launch the comic a few months after completing that year of school, as it ended up giving me full-sized references, colour schemes, and a much better idea of the story as a whole. Based on when my school years took place, I can actually track the progression of the characters pretty well through the artistic skill upgrade I was getting too.

The progression is pretty wild honestly, especially between 2015 and 2016:

(oh god these are so old help me)

(these aren’t all of them either but I did my best jdhkfhsjkfhskjf)

From 2016 onwards I had the basic idea of her, so her colours stayed more or less the same once I actually added them. Cassie’s hair was one of the things that required a lot more iterations. I had her general idea down for a while, but when it came to making the character pack of her for my character design class, I remember having to sit down and actually figure out how her hair would work, structurally and otherwise, for that High Quality Refinement™ that was required of the project. Her older drawings had the part in her hair be in the middle, and that posed the problem of covering her eyes too much. If she was a more reserved character in any way this could have worked, but nah. I knew from the beginning she was going to be an outwardly eccentric child, one I wish I could have been when I was growing up.

Now for anyone that knows me as both a huge nerd and an artist, when it comes to fantasy stuff I LOVE armour. Absolutely love it. You see it everywhere in the things I make both inside and outside of SGZ, and I adore making themed costumes based on that (see my Feather Knights series for the most extreme example of this ever, ahahaha). So, it stands to reason that I would do the same for Cassie at some point, and I did!

There was a particular focus on a helmet for a while too, whole plot points in fact! This helmet was, story wise, a long-standing plot point that proved difficult to change once the focus shifted. The initial idea was that the helmet belonged to Cassie’s science teacher (who is still a minor character in this as of now) and he gave it to her knowing its significance to the Starglass, thus establishing a sort of connection between Cassie’s normal life on Earth and the supernatural shenanigans that happen on the Astral Plane. The night she brings it home, she discovers that this little friend laid dormant inside:

This is Flicker. A character I’ve actually never revealed to anyone prior to now but hey, why not? The idea of Cassie having a spirit companion certainly didn’t come out of left field for me, but I wasn’t entirely sure how this character would appear, or what dynamic they would have with Cassie. I didn’t have pets bigger than a hamster growing up, so the idea of Cassie having a potential dog or cat companion would be new territory based on my own experiences.

Flicker, as they are right now, acts as a sort of sensor for spirits that are roaming loose on Earth, and alerts Cassie to them... even if she’s not always up for a spirit hunt. They do have a backstory associated with how they appear and what their purpose is in the overall context of the world, but that isn’t revealed until much later in the story. For now Flicker is a cute little friend that cannot say much, but is devoted to protecting things, especially the Starglass. Luckily they still made the cut when it came to the helmet idea, and you should be meeting them officially pretty soon in the comic! :D

While the initial problem was getting any sort of cohesive look to the helmet or any other armour in terms of concept, I found as the story developed along with Cassie’s design, both her hair and her star sweater ended up being her two most “iconic” qualities aside from her eye, and using armour would have covered that up.

On top of that, Cassie didn’t really end up being the type of character that would use armour, as one might expect from a character that has to fight and defend things a lot. She’s one to do things a little differently, and both her and the signs discover that, well, different works! It wasn’t a matter of her physical strength for the majority of the problems she faces, but rather strength of heart, and that’s a very personal note for me to touch on with this character. As such, nothing about an armour concept ever came out of the sketch phase:

It still makes for really interesting ideas though, so I’m sure I can work these into something else I’m working on. :’D Knowing myself, I’ll find a way. (The wings are VERY Cardcaptors though lol)

What did stay, however, were her swords:

She had at least one sword at the very beginning of this concept, but it eventually evolved into two. I find it interesting that sun, moon and star symbols were always present, regardless of what iteration these swords went through. Their official names are the Sun Star and Moon Star Swords respectively. Aside from the few doodles here and there for the zodiac weapons, this was the first appearance of any kind of fantasy weapon in SGZ. I can confirm that Cassie and the signs were going to have weapons from the get-go though, this IS something I made after all. xD

I think I also need to mention the main influences for this series, as the love for those things is very evident in my work, from the visuals to the storytelling and everything in between. Aside from my general interest in fantasy topics such as mythology and astrology, here’s a list including (but not limited to) the series that inspired the making of SGZ:

Kirby, Steven Universe, Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra, Cardcaptor Sakura / Cardcaptors, Kim Possible, Danny Phantom, and pretty much any other show I’ve watched about surviving school while going on crazy adventures. That stuff may be cliche now but I’ll be damned if I don’t love it still.

I grew up with some of these and the rest are new, but they’re all near and dear to my heart for many reasons. I’m happy that I can put that love into something I’ve made, and share that story with the world.

I know I’ve got a lot more ranting about this story to do in general and the comic is still going, but I want to say some special thanks to some of SGZ’s biggest supporters:

Laura, Eleanor, and my classmates and teachers at Seneca College. This comic wouldn’t exist without you. <3

I’ll be honest, working on this series got me through some of the toughest years of my life so far, and this was one of the first times where something I made actually came to fruition in some way, and had a genuine development period that I can look back on. I’ve grown a lot as both a person and an artist since then, and doing this look back in time really solidified that for me. I have a cast of characters that I love, and now I get to tell their story. So if you’ve stayed till the end in this gigantic post, thank you. I don’t know where this story will lead me, but with any luck it’ll be somewhere in the stars. Thanks for reading, friends. <3

#Starglass Zodiac #SGZ #SGZ Anniversary #origin story #Cassie #development #character development #story development

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a-true-deviant-explored · 5 years

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Texas two step or the making of true sex goddess

She was my younger cousins best friend, to young to be looking at when I first met her. Nine out of ten men would have notice her boobs first. They were big round soft and really didnt fit her frame yet. I noticed her eyes, and the different things they emoted. She was 16 and loved being the center of attention,her and my cousin both. The diva twins I called them. My cousin would only grow out of that slightly, Katie on the other hand would cling for positive attention while mostly generating negative.

My time is texas was difficult. After a long battle with my family and me withdrawing as to lessen the drama, an opportunity presented itself I couldn't resist and let me reconnect with both sides of my family, the ones who questioned how I went from the golden child to citizen zero. As I reconnected with them and the adults my age and older got to hear my side of what happened,I was accepted again, granted the were Leary but gave me a wide berth.

Until my cousin Fred's wedding. It was held out of the area and for much of the time, to keep appearances I lived well below what I could in a self punishment guilt. But when I heard of the full family reunion I tried unsuccessfully to bow out. My aunt, my secret keeper who knew more then even me about what happened warned me. For once let them see that they couldn't hold you down. So I went big. Even though I rode with my aunt and two family members I hadn't seen in almost a decade I knew it would be a hard weekend,lucky for me I got a distraction that allowed me to later on help someone who was mirroring in her own way.

I was the youngest of my generation of cousins and quietly asked to make sure the young ones didnt cause drama. Which being teens they did. My female cousin not only demanded her best friend Katie be invited but her boyfriend as well. It was suggested to me I let the boy stay with me. I quickly shot that down for one reason, I didnt want to know shit, already stressed not really taking time off from my job and working remotely as best as I could I didnt need the headache.

That lasted 39 minutes after I got their. My fav cousin in the world kristen was at my door warning me, the diva is pissed they wont let her and her bf be in a hotel room by themselves. I straight looked at her, btw she lived in New York and said does any think that bitch is still a virgin? Dam she has them all fooled. Kris came in as did her brother, and an easy atmosphere developed. Kris goes she is going to take it out on Katie, who is great but I think is off her meds. If anyone would know it would be her. But it was the first I heard about it. I thought she had a decent life but I was wrong. Mental abuse physical abuse. Shit parents who barely let her eat. Keep an eye and let me know

The first night we all went out for dinner and it was nice. Except for the children being children. And Katie's dress really not fitting, like way short,she is tall, and not form fitting. It was a long affair and people would drift from tables to the patio vice versa. Katie had been upset the whole time but the lighting concealed it. But I hadn't seen her in a bit and when I went looking for her found her and one of the groomsmen by the bar. I quickly walked over looked at the groomsmen and said you dont know me, but go ask my cousin what an absolute motherfucking nightmare I will make your life if you do not go back to the hotel and only come out of your room for events . He squared up and was about to say something when my father, who I was seeing for the first time in forever and realized his shit was flowing with what happened, told the douche bag let me save you the trip. People say they know where the bodies are buried, he buried them. The boy took off, a simple you got this and a nod and he walked away.

Katie. She was pissed, and drunk and stoned and couldn't walk straight and a mess. I guided her outside and she was like I just didnt want to be made to feel unwanted. I whispered look Rachel is a bitch. Hang out with us tonight and tomorrow and it will be ok. And what the fuck were u doing with that ass fuck he is like my age. Not really but closer to mine. He said he would make me have an orgasm.

I stared at her in disbelief, umm one dont rush it, trust me you will have plenty and some better then others, and not my business but really him? All these boys your age her and you pick him. On the verge of passing out she mumbled well you didnt show any interest. The New York cousins raced her back to the hotel, a good hour away. And I went to talk to my aunt. Look u need to tell Rachel her shit almost led her bff to a bad mistake. I'm going back to catch up with the kids. Bring me her pajamas she can sleep in my spare room but I have work in the morning so come collect her

Taking a cab,no uber's yet lol, I got back and the kids were at the bar. Shes ok up in your suite. Embarrassed pretty sober. Might be in the tub. I gave them a hug and told kris text me when everyone gets here and distract the young ones. Tell romeo and slut to go make out

I opened my door and called out. Katie. U ok. The bathroom door opened and she meant to stick her head out to say hi but tripped , 10 yrs later she still trips on air daily, and her towel fell below her tits. I'm not usually a fan of big tits, the areolas and nipples get distorted. But hers were perfect and rising as we stared at each other. Damn girl your built for speed, one day someone is going to be lucky. I pulled her towel up looking her in the eyes.. she babble I swear I didnt mean to flash u. I laughed well next time let me see everything and we will call it a draw. Silly me thought she would understand a joke, but her towel hit the floor, katie I'm not a moral person, reaching down tracing her hips, I dont give a rat's ass about your age, but time and place, and this isn't it, tears forming but I'll give you a tease and slide a finger in her. Eyes fluttering and slightly surprised her response was a simple oh my. My lips found hers and mouths open and I picked her leg and wrapped it around my hip. She was grinding and grasping and apologizing. I asked why she goes I cant keep my hips still so u can well. I whispered baby your supposed to move. Makes it funnier. She came pretty fast and I told to get dressed and if this is something she wanted to come see me on her 17th. She giggled u know that's like a week from now, I do but be ready I don't advertise who I'm with and and I'm very different from anyone else you will ever have

Her 17th birthday fell on a sat. She asked if I was free. I will be about eleven. Dont u have plans with family? Nope mom left money and is headed to Houston for the weekend.

Ok, listen carefully trim dont shave. There will be a present for you in my foyer. Put it on. I'll be outside. Three hours later I hear her arrive. Fuck I thought something slinky but she walked outside, really. Jewelry? Are these real. I nodded, she climbed into the jacuzzi fully clothed, for the next four months that would be the most clothing she wore in my house. She found a teacher and mentor. I found a lifelong friend. Today she called me out of the blue, bad yr keeps getting worse, hello my friend. I didnt say anything till today. I'm six months along and it's going to be a boy. And I'm naming him after you. Thank you for everything my life, my schooling and degree and a wonderful career.

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